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Thursday, August 18, 2011

Age Group Nationals: I made it (phew)

I flew to Burlington, rather than drive, so I could be at home yesterday for the kids' first day of school and presumably have an easier trip here. Oh, the sense of humor of the travel gods.

The plan was to fly out of Roanoke at 7 am, fly through Philly, and roll into Burlington fresh as a daisy by 11 am. The reality was I got on the plane in Roanoke, got off the plane in Roanoke, sat in the airport for 2-1/2 hours while storms moved through Philly, then missed two opportunities to connect to Burlington. The second was a near-miss involving a wild sprint though the airport. It might have been my fastest 800 interval to date. So much for my rest day. Then I had to sweat it out on standby, but I made it. I hugged the gate guy who gave me my boarding pass. I finally arrived at 3:30 pm, then things improved. My checked bag with all the food miraculously made it.

My bike and gear, sent with another local tri family, arrived at my hotel almost simultaneously with my cab. The shuttle arrived just as I headed to the Expo, where I met my teammates as well as Danny and Eric from Endurance Films. I also got to see the beautiful Endurance Films Racing Team custom bike by Kane Custom Bikes. The rear disc wheel looks just like an Endurance Films DVD. I will get a picture of it tomorrow.

The Endurance Films booth

I headed out for a short bike ride with EFRT members Laura and Casey, and all was right in the world again. The venue is beautiful, I have already met so many wonderful athletes, and I am excited to swim, bike, and run here.

I learned today that there are some 140 or so competitors just in my age group. WOW! So while I will be racing my heart out, I have no expectations on the outcome side of things. I plan to be in the moment and enjoy the whole experience. I think it will be good for me to race against the best of the best and see what is possible thus raising the bar for myself.

Riding with Casey and Laura. How's that for mobile picture taking?

Tomorrow morning the EFRT will meet up for a group swim to start the day off. Off to bed, I am exhausted.